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The Grinch didn't do it

Dr. Suess likely would like the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Tram opening soon at Universal Orlando. Afterall, “these things are fun and fun is good.” These things are fun and fun is good”

By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published June 2, 2006

ORLANDO - The mystery of the Seuss Landing is coming to a conclusion after its long and puzzling seven-year odyssey.

Universal Orlando is finally prepared to open June 22, the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Tram, a ride that threads together the resort’s colorful, four-acre, themed tribute to Dr. Seuss at the Islands of Adventure theme park.

“It’s absolutely a new ride system and absolutely a much better experience than the original,’’ said Chris Lauren, creative director of Seuss Landing. ''We just didn’t get it right the first time. We wouldn’t open until it was right.’’

The opening marks the fourth mild family-style attraction added to a young park that was launched as a hot bed for state-of-the-art thrill rides. The effort to balance IOA’s appeal with more tame storytelling rides for the entire family is part of a growing national trend as theme parks’ latest cycle of can-you-top-this thrill ride arms race ran out of steam in 2005.

“All the parks are turning their attention back to basics of the family because nobody’s getting that 10 percent bump in attendance just from big thrill rides anymore,’’ said Dennis Spiegel, president of International Theme Park Services, a Cincinnati consulting firm. “But it’s rare to see a new ride’’ in mothballs as long Universal’s Seuss tram ride.

The new ride will provide about 1,100 riders an hour with a three-to-four minute bird’s-eye view of the striking cartoon-land filled with hundreds of visual references, sight gags and “machiney’’ sound effects inspired by the rich legacy of artist-humorist Ted Geisel’s 53-year career.

Riders travel through seven tableaus — some indoors, some outdoors — filled with bits, pieces and characters culled from Dr. Seuss stories.

“We’re adding new props and repainting all of Seuss Landing with the colors amped up even more than they were the first time,’’ said Lauren, who describes the ride’s sound track as “ringing and binging,’’ ''clicking and ticking’’ and ''berking and bonking.’’

The attraction has been the subject of speculation ever since it was built just in time for Islands of Adventure’s opening in 1999. Nobody but park executives, designers and engineers rode the one-of-a-kind ride, which was quietly abandoned and rarely mentioned again by Universal.

Since then park visitors have been routinely puzzled by what appeared to be a monorail track intertwined with the Seuss Landing area 15 feet above its colorful streets and kids’ rides such as One Fish Two Fish, the Cat in the Hat and a Seuss characters carousel. But all the entry ways were blocked and the upstairs rooms filled with Seuss displays could only be seen from the street. Every once in a while, three strange-looking vehicles that looked like jazzed-up bumper cars were spotted making a test spin or simply parked on the track suspended over the streets.

Photos spread, fueling speculation on theme park fanatic blogs.

One oft-repeated theory was the engineers forgot to figure out how to retrieve riders in the event of a power failure. (Not true, insists Lauren. The tracks have always been banked so cars can coast to a surface to climb out plus the ride had battery-powered tugs to move idled vehicles).

Other industry watchers and consultants say the design and engineering didn’t match up well, but Universal isn’t talking.

In any case, the ride, originally called Sylvester McMonkey McBean’s Unusual Driving Machines, never materialized.

While the attraction was in flux, other budget priorities came first, such as smoothing out the rough landing at the end of the Ripsaw Falls flume ride, fixing the scenes in Poseidon’s Fury and adding a Universal version of the tea cups ride at Walt Disney World.

But it’s been hard to ignore the abandoned hulk. The track and buildings are all part and parcel of the unusual Seuss streetscape that uses no right angles. Much of the weird looking village painted in pastel purples, golds, blues and aquas can only be seen from the ride.  The towering Seuss-style sculpture sprouts from building roofs.

The train track goes around the mezzanine of the Circus McGurkus food court, which looks a bit empty without it. Universal even bragged about transplanting twisted palm trees that were growing up sideways thanks to Hurricane Andrew.  Seven years later, the twisted palms today are growing straight up again.

Universal spent the past year rebuilding and rejuvenating the old ride scenes. It installed a new track over the existing one. The ride is designed for kids as young as 3-1/2 or at least 34 inches tall. The new 20-passenger electric-powered trains, painted in jelly bean colors, will run at speeds ranging from a bit faster than a walk to 12 miles per hour through many wacky scenes such as the Sneeches Star Wash.

The original ride, it turns out, used small self-propelled cars that made a tour of the village, but also functioned a bit like bumper cars.

What happened to those old cars?

“Remember that warehouse at the end of the first Indiana Jones’ movie,’’ said Lauren. “I think they put them in there next to the Ark of the Covenant.’’

[Last modified June 2, 2006, 22:46:08]